7 seater advice

[Car Obsessed]

I’m looking for a cheap 7 seater, main criteria being:
- 3 ideally separate (or large) second row seats (child seat + teenage + adult)
- large boot
- not worried about 3rd row seat size, will only be used very occasionally for little ones.
- cheap to run/maintain
- reliable

I’ve had a previous bad experience with a Galaxy (airbag faults, clutch, injectors, engine mounts all with a couple of months!), so not keen on one of those.

I keep getting drawn to the French offerings/ Peugeot 5008/Renault Grand Scenic but not sure if this would be wise?

As for budget, up to around £4K - but would also be happy to spend less and keep some in reserve for repairs.

I do enough long journeys to justify a diesel, and have a company EV in case I ever need to venture into ULEZ areas. I’ve become used to autos recently, but given budget/age/likely brand choices I think manual is a safer bet here.

So any helpful insights or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[the-norseman]

We have a 2011 Volvo XC90 D5 (2.4 5 cylinder) R- Design with Polestar remap so 215ps.


MPG wise on a motorway run you get 32-34mpg the car weighs 2.5 tonnes.

Seating wise, you can get a teenager/adult and baby seat on the middle row and you have two seats at the back that fold down. the boot is massive.


problem is at £4,000 your going to be looking at older cars that are either 163 or 185 bhp and they wont be in the best condition.

[Car Obsessed]

Interesting suggestion, always fancied an XC90 - any particular sweet spot of model years to look out for with these?

[the-norseman]

The facelifted ones, I wanted 2010+ for the 200ps engine. 2008 for example only has 185ps.

Polestar remap for the 200 puts it at 215, the 185 puts it at 205.

This one below is an "executive" which is top of the line, mileage is higher than mine and mines an R-Design not Exec but I paid £10k just over a year ago.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285232028468?hash=item4...

its also got a Polestar badge on the rear which would suggest it has the remap as well (you can check with a Volvo dealer)

Edited by the-norseman on Wednesday 19th April 20:08

[Back2theFuji]

Petrol Toyota Verso or Kia Carens (although you are unlikely to get a 2013+ Carens for £4k).

Avoid the diesel Toyotas, they are junk and will cost a fortune in injectors / turbos etc.

[Car Obsessed]

Back2theFuji said:

Petrol Toyota Verso or Kia Carens (although you are unlikely to get a 2013+ Carens for £4k).

Avoid the diesel Toyotas, they are junk and will cost a fortune in injectors / turbos etc.

Any particular reason to go for a 2013+ Kia Carens? And anything wrong with the Kia diesel engines that you know about?

Something like this looks ideal - with plenty left in the slush fund for repairs (or another toy!) https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202304176...

[ZX10R NIN]

Car Obsessed said:

I’m looking for a cheap 7 seater, main criteria being:
- 3 ideally separate (or large) second row seats (child seat + teenage + adult)
- large boot
- not worried about 3rd row seat size, will only be used very occasionally for little ones.
- cheap to run/maintain
- reliable

I’ve had a previous bad experience with a Galaxy (airbag faults, clutch, injectors, engine mounts all with a couple of months!), so not keen on one of those.

I keep getting drawn to the French offerings/ Peugeot 5008/Renault Grand Scenic but not sure if this would be wise?

As for budget, up to around £4K - but would also be happy to spend less and keep some in reserve for repairs.

I do enough long journeys to justify a diesel, and have a company EV in case I ever need to venture into ULEZ areas. I’ve become used to autos recently, but given budget/age/likely brand choices I think manual is a safer bet here.

So any helpful insights or advice would be greatly appreciated.

807:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303275...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303215...

Chevrolet Orlando LTZ:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202304096...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301283...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303145...

[Car Obsessed]

ZX10R NIN said:

Car Obsessed said:

I’m looking for a cheap 7 seater, main criteria being:
- 3 ideally separate (or large) second row seats (child seat + teenage + adult)
- large boot
- not worried about 3rd row seat size, will only be used very occasionally for little ones.
- cheap to run/maintain
- reliable

I’ve had a previous bad experience with a Galaxy (airbag faults, clutch, injectors, engine mounts all with a couple of months!), so not keen on one of those.

I keep getting drawn to the French offerings/ Peugeot 5008/Renault Grand Scenic but not sure if this would be wise?

As for budget, up to around £4K - but would also be happy to spend less and keep some in reserve for repairs.

I do enough long journeys to justify a diesel, and have a company EV in case I ever need to venture into ULEZ areas. I’ve become used to autos recently, but given budget/age/likely brand choices I think manual is a safer bet here.

So any helpful insights or advice would be greatly appreciated.

807:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303275...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303215...

Chevrolet Orlando LTZ:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202304096...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301283...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303145...

Those 807’s look very tempting. Would be perfect, but any reliability issues, especially with the auto box’s?

[Back2theFuji]

Car Obsessed said:

Any particular reason to go for a 2013+ Kia Carens? And anything wrong with the Kia diesel engines that you know about?

Something like this looks ideal - with plenty left in the slush fund for repairs (or another toy!) https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202304176...

The newer model is just a lot more refined, that is all. The older diesels are fine by the way...I'm running a 2009 Kia Ceed SW 1.6 CRDI. It's been abused with school runs, nursery runs etc. but no DPF or EGR to worry about, so soldiers on.

The modern Kia diesels are probably fine as well, but there's always the risk of an expensive clutch / DMF replacement, DPF / EGR / Turbo issues with diesels. Older petrols just seem cheaper to maintain.

[edc]

Have a look at the Touran or C4 Grand Picasso. Not exctiigb but what is in the segment but does the job with 3 separate and moveable rear seats.

[ZX10R NIN]

Car Obsessed said:

Those 807’s look very tempting. Would be perfect, but any reliability issues, especially with the auto box’s?

Like any auto make sure the fluid & filter have been changed if not get it done, & the window regulators can be an issue.

[CrippsCorner]

We ended up with a Fiat 500L MPW - Was quite happy to get a 2015 car for £3,400 last year. However they have a normal bench across the back, so maybe not ideal if adults are going to be travelling in it constantly.

Did look at Scenics first, but they seemed dog rough, at least the examples I saw. Missus quite fancied a C4 but couldn't stretch to the newer shape and again the old ones left a lot to be desired (I'm sure they're fine as a run around though)

Does your bad experience with a Galaxy put you off an S-Max too?

[PistonTim]

Ford S-max.

Get a nice one that's been looked after, a lot of these cars are abused buses but they are brilliant if you have a good one.

[markoc1982]

We have owned an a 08 Corolla Verso with the 2.2 d4d engine for 10 years.
It's on nearly 150,000 miles and feels like it could do the same again.
Gets 40mpg with a lot of short trips. Been serviced regularly and has been very reliable.

It's one of the smaller 7 seaters and the rear seats are fine for occasional use. The boot is tiny when you have all 7 seats in use.
The middle row all move independently and it's easy to drive and park around town.

Definitely worth a look.

[Car Obsessed]

Lots to think about - thanks.

I might take a look at some Verso’s and S-max’s. Good to see there’s a few options out there, imagine it’ll come down to what’s available locally in the best condition.

I’ll update once I have made a decision!

[drmike37]

Try to find a 1.9 Tdi Touran. Extremely boring but other than replacement rear springs should be simple to keep going.

[Car Obsessed]

Just thought I’d update and bring this thread to a close - after looking at a few French offerings I’ve ended up with a 1.9tdi Touran. Just felt a bit better quality all round, and still drives like new. So here’s a pic of it with the rest of the fleet.

Thanks for all of the advice!